Does Anyone Still Listen to Karl Rove?

I wonder if the cohort that watches Fox New Sunday still thinks that Karl Rove has any credibility. The producers of the show must think so, since they keep inviting Rove back. But his pronouncements are increasingly absurd. Take his performance this morning:

Democrats are raising a fuss about the closure of the George Washington Bridge because they are afraid of Gov. Chris Christie’s (R) chances in 2016, according to former President George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove.

“The reason the Democrats are doing this is because Gov. Christie is a strong potential candidate in 2016 and they’re going to try to smother every Republican presidential possibility they can,” Rove said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“They know that this race in 2016 is going to be difficult for the Democrats, hard to get a third term, particularly after the two terms of Obama.”

While it’s true that the Democrats would like to damage any seemingly strong Republican candidates for the presidency, Gov. Chris Christie’s problems are wholly of his own making. Christie might have been a strong candidate in 2016, but the Democrats in New Jersey basically rolled over and did not seriously contest his reelection, with numerous party bosses and big city mayors actually working with him. The Democrats in Washington DC hardly contested the race, either. They didn’t think Christie was beatable and they valued the sheen of bipartisan cooperation they got from Christie after Superstorm Sandy hit the Garden State.

So, it’s unlikely that Christie would be taking such a beating from the Democrats if his administration had not shut down lanes on the George Washington Bridge for completely spiteful purposes and then lied about it for months.

Sadly for Rove, if the Democrats are seeking to “smother” strong Republican presidential candidates, their real problem is finding one to smother.